Monday, September 12, 2011

On the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, I woke up to tributes, memories, and stories playing on every television channel. The poignant accounts inspired me to write the following letter to our 15,000 Doctors for America members.

9/11/2011

Dear Anna,

As we sat down this morning to watch the 9/11 tributes, we, like so many of you, were touched repeatedly by accounts of heroism and stories of loss.

One civilian tells the account of heading toward the collapsing towers, feeling he had to do something to help people who were trapped. "You forget what you're supposed to do, what you're taught to do in school," he said. "And you do what's right."

Inspired by such heroes, our country has carried the memories of those we lost, and we continue to seek healing.

As physicians, we are no strangers to the search for healing. Our commitment and our calling to heal is the foundation stone that has remained constant in our work over generations. So deeply ingrained is this ethic that it compels us every day to look past differences in culture, politics, religion, and philosophy and to join hands with fellow physicians, nurses, administrators, pharmacists, and thousands of others in the name of a higher cause.

As one Doctors for America member put it: “No matter how much of a difference of opinion you have with other people at work, you can nearly always get them to come together around what's best for patients."

On a day like today, it's hard to escape the idea that the world needs more healing. It's hard not to wonder what the world might be like if we were able to cultivate more of the "People First" principle in our relationships, in business, and in our politics. While that may seem like reaching for too much, the fact that millions of health professionals around the world have made this our credo and our practice gives us a reason to believe that it can happen.

When thousands of Manhattan residents fled south on the morning of 9/11 looking for an escape from the growing inferno behind them, they were greeted by the unforgiving waters of the Hudson which offered no path to safety. The panicked crowd continued to grow until the US Coast Guard made a key decision: they issued a radio call to every civilian ship in the area asking them to join in an unprecedented citizen rescue mission.

The response was overwhelming. Within minutes, the Hudson was covered with scores of boats streaking toward the southern tip of Manhattan. They pierced through the dense cloud of dust and debris and brought soot-covered people on board, offered them water, and ferried them to safety. In 9 hours, over 500,000 people were rescued. The 9/11 Boat Lift became the largest boat rescue in the history of the world.

The 9/11 Boat Lift was powered by ordinary people. They were never trained in emergency response. Many of them would never have described themselves as heroes, but as one of the boat responders said, "I believe everyone has a hero in them. You've got to look in. It's in there."

Such responders had every reason to flee for safety themselves. The choice they made compels us to ask why they didn't.

Vincent Ardolino, the captain of the Amberjack, said his wife thought he was a maniac for wanting to take his boat toward Manhattan. But he knew that he had to go. "Never go through life saying you should have," he said later reflecting on the decision. "If you want to do something, you do it."

Today, the airwaves and our hearts are filled with sacred memories. In the days ahead, as we ask ourselves what we can do to fix our politics, mend our economy, and make the world a safer place for everyone, we keep the stories of the 9/11 heroes and victims in our thoughts. Stories that reaffirm that above everything else, it is our common humanity that makes us one people.

As individuals who have dedicated their lives to the healing of humanity, few are more equipped to take this message forward than you.

A few minutes ago, I, along with millions of others, received an email from the CEO of Borders bookstores announcing the end of their 40 year enterprise. I don’t know much about what caused the company to fold, but something struck me in CEO Mike Edward’s email:

“I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to lead Borders and play a role in the true and noble cause of expanding access to books and promoting the joy of reading.”

I was moved by this simple but profound mission. It felt important, like it was about increasing happiness in the world. It felt larger than profits and market share. And I felt all of this despite not being able to remember the last time I went to a Borders and having no real loyalty to the store.

I wonder what it would be like to work at Borders if you felt that was your mission: to promote the joy of reading. What if your job first and foremost - whether you were in sales, customer service, shipping, accounting, or janitorial services - was to bring more happiness into people’s lives through the experience of books? What if you knew that this was the express mission of every single person in the company and you were reminded of this in a million small ways every day? What if at your holiday parties, staff meetings, and individual reviews, this was the goal that was discussed and strategized first? That feels pretty powerful and quite unifying. I could imagine it being a lot of fun too.

A lot of companies have compelling missions and values. The real question is do these missions and values percolate down to the employees and influence their actions and experiences? Or are they merely pithy claims which remain confined to web sites and employee handbooks?

If you’re running a company, a non-profit, a government agency, or a pick up sports team, I think the above questions are critical. What is your Values Penetration Index (VPI) - the degree to which your group’s values are reflected in the day to day experience and actions of your employees and volunteers? The greater the VPI, the higher the happiness quotient among employees and customers. Ultimately, this means better business and better service.

Now, to apply the VPI to myself as an individual: do the values I write about and dream about percolate down to my daily interactions and decisions?